DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Applicants have amended the claims 1 and 9 with additional features.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/15/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicants have made arguments based upon the latest amended claims, of the added features to the discharge transport device and of the selectively removed at the removal point, and in which the CURETTI and COXHEAD references do not teach of the new feature. After further consideration of the new features, the features are seen to be taught by new references, as seen in LINKE (US 2018/0015657 A1), see also additional cited relevant references in the conclusion section. The rejection of the claims that include the new features are now shown below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CURETTI (EP 2052842 A1) (from IDS) in view of LINKE (US 2018/0015657 A1).
Re: 1, CURETTI teaches of a system for producing containers from preforms 11, the system (see Figs. 1 and 2) comprising
a production machine 15 (preform production part) for producing preforms 11 (see preform production part 10, Fig. 1, see [0038], and also injection molding machine and mould, see [0031]),
a blow molding machine 25 (container production part) for producing containers from preforms 11 (see blow molding [0035]),
a transport device 14 (transfer means 14, [0039]) for feeding preforms from the production machine to the blow molding machine and a storage device, to which preforms can be fed from the transport device at a removal point and transferred to the transport device at a transfer point (see [0042], wherein the flexible link 29 includes rail, carriage, robot, arm, and other transfer of preforms between preform production 15 and container blow station 25, the transport including conditioning range and accumulator zone 28 for conditioning preforms prior to being transferred to the container blow station 25, and include temperature regulating elements, see [0040]),
wherein the storage device comprises a temperature-control device 24 (control means) for adjusting temperature for temperature-control of the preforms (see [0019, 0029, 0030, 0040, 0043-0045], particularly as seen in the temperature sensor 31 which is linked back to the regulation of the heating or cooling or time in the conditioning range based upon measurement by the sensor, see in particular [0045]).
CURETTI does not teach of the additional feature of:
“wherein the preforms are removed from the transport device at a removal point and fed to the storage device via a discharge transport device and wherein the discharge transport device is connected to the transport device in such a way that preforms can be selectively removed from the transport device at the removal point and fed to the discharge transport device.”
LINKE teaches of a transportation system that features an ejection unit that allows for selective selection of individual preforms that is being conveyed along a transport wheel, see [0015, 0016], the ejection unit 32 pushes or shifts preforms 20 selected and to a guide rail 57, see [0055-0057], especially in light of the use of an inspection device 38 for the preform, see [0054]. Wherein, it is known in the molding arts, particularly of the transport of formed preforms as both references teach of the use of rails, of the selective handling and transport as seen in the LINKE reference. The use of such an ejection unit within the transport unit for selectively selecting individual preforms is applicable to the CURETTI reference particularly in removal of selected preforms based upon the inspection.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the transport device of CURETTI with the selective selection portion as taught by LINKE for selection of individual preforms, see KSR rationale, MPEP 2143, as combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Re: 2 (upon 1), wherein the removal point is arranged upstream or downstream of the transfer point in the transport direction of the preforms in the transport device.
(In CURETTI, the removal point can be observed as the transfer between the conditioning on to the blow molding station)
Re: 3 (upon 1), wherein the system comprises a control unit for controlling the temperature-control device depending on a target temperature of the preforms.
(See [0045] of CURETTI)
Re: 4 (upon 3), wherein the system comprises a sensor for determining a temperature of preforms in the transport device and wherein the target temperature is dependent on the determined temperature and/or on requirements when producing containers from the preforms with the blow molding machine.
(See in CURETTI of temperature sensor 31, [0045], as it measures just before the preform is placed into the cavity of the blow mold)
Re: 5 (upon 4), wherein the sensor is arranged so that it can determine the temperature of the preforms in a region of the transfer point.
(See teaching in CURETTI for claim 3 above, [0045])
Re: 6 (upon 3), wherein the control unit is designed to control the temperature-control device such that the preforms have the target temperature at a transfer time.
(See the teaching in CURETTI of adjustment, for optimization, see [0019-0021])
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CURETTI in view of LINKE as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of HAYAKAWA (US 12421093 B2).
Re: 7 (upon 3), wherein the control unit is designed to control the temperature-control device depending on a planned end of operation of the production machine such that the preforms have the target temperature at the planned end of operation.
CURETTI does not specifically teach of the planned end of the operation of the production machine, though CURETTI does teach of operation control including adjustment for the processing operations based upon temperature sensor readings.
In HAYAKAWA regarding operations that include process operations of molded caps, there is teaching of the production wherein the controller includes movement stopping based upon the number of caps accumulated based upon a sensor reading. This controlled stopping based upon the numbers detected would also include the concept of the planned end of operation as based upon the numbers of units produced/processed.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modify the controlling means of the modified CURETTI with the steps that includes stopping the operation as taught by HAYAKAWA as per reaching the number of products produced in the operation.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CURETTI in view of LINKE and HAYAKAWA as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of COXHEAD (EP 0813949 B1, see IDS).
Re: 8 (upon 7), wherein the system is designed in such a way that the preforms are fed to the transport device from the storage device when there are no more preforms in the transport device upstream of the transfer point.
The CURETTI reference does not specifically state of the design for operation when no more preforms upstream of the transfer point.
COXHEAD in the same field of endeavor teaches of the article handling system between the associated molding machines, see [0073], and includes a buffer storage area in the transferring of the articles between the machines, and wherein, allowing for continued operation of each of the associated molding machines should the other one of the associated molding machines have to be shut down.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modify the method of the modified CURETTI with the additional buffering step as taught by COXHEAD that encompasses the claimed storage device to transport device as it allows for running of the operation with increased efficiency (see [0073] of COXHEAD).
Claim(s) 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CURETTI in view of COXHEAD (EP 0813949 B1, see IDS) and LINKE (US 2018/0015657 A1).
Re: 9, method for producing containers from preforms 11 by means of a system (see Figs. 1 and 2) , the system comprising
a production machine 15 for producing preforms 11 (see preform production part 10, Fig. 1, see [0038], and also injection molding machine and mould, see [0031]),
a blow molding machine 25 for producing containers from preforms (see blow molding [0035]),
a transport device 14 (transport means, [0039]) for feeding preforms from the production machine to the blow molding machine and a storage device to which preforms can be fed from the transport device at a removal point and transferred to the transport device at a transfer point (see [0042], wherein the flexible link 29 includes rail, carriage, robot, arm, and other transfer of preforms between preform production 15 and container blow station 25, the transport including conditioning range and accumulator zone 28 for conditioning preforms prior to being transferred to the container blow station 25, and include temperature regulating elements, see [0040]),
wherein the storage device comprises a temperature-control device 24 (control means) for temperature-control of the preforms, (see [0019, 0029, 0030, 0040, 0043-0045], particularly as seen in the temperature sensor 31 which is linked back to the regulation of the heating or cooling or time in the conditioning range based upon measurement by the sensor, see in particular [0045]).
(method of producing, see teachings in claim 1 also)
CURETTI does not specifically state of “the method comprising feeding preforms from the storage device to the transport device when there are no preforms upstream of the transfer point, at least temporarily”.
COXHEAD in the same field of endeavor teaches of the article handling system between the associated molding machines, see [0073], and includes a buffer storage area in the transferring of the articles between the machines, and wherein, allowing for continued operation of each of the associated molding machines should the other one of the associated molding machines have to be shut down.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the method of CURETTI with the additional buffering step as taught by COXHEAD that encompasses the claimed storage device to transport device as it allows for running of the operation with increased efficiency (see [0073] of COXHEAD).
CURETTI does not teach of the additional feature of:
“wherein the preforms are removed from the transport device at a removal point and fed to the storage device via a discharge transport device and wherein the discharge transport device is connected to the transport device in such a way that preforms can be selectively removed from the transport device at the removal point and fed to the discharge transport device.”
LINKE teaches of a transportation system that features an ejection unit that allows for selective selection of individual preforms that is being conveyed along a transport wheel, see [0015, 0016], the ejection unit 32 pushes or shifts preforms 20 selected and to a guide rail 57, see [0055-0057], especially in light of the use of an inspection device 38 for the preform, see [0054]. Wherein, it is known in the molding arts, particularly of the transport of formed preforms as both references teach of the use of rails, of the selective handling and transport as seen in the LINKE reference. The use of such an ejection unit within the transport unit for selectively selecting individual preforms is applicable to the CURETTI reference particularly in removal of selected preforms based upon the inspection.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the transport device of CURETTI in view of COXHEAD with the selective selection portion as taught by LINKE for selection of individual preforms, see KSR rationale, MPEP 2143, as combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Re: 10 (upon 9), wherein the removal point is arranged upstream or downstream of the transfer point in the transport direction of the preforms in the transport device.
(similar to claim 2 above, In CURETTI, the removal point can be observed as the transfer between the conditioning on to the blow molding station)
Re: 11 (upon 9), wherein the system comprises a control unit which controls the temperature-control device depending on a target temperature of the preforms.
(similar to claim 3 above, see [0045] of CURETTI)
Re: 12 (upon 11), wherein the system comprises a sensor for determining a temperature of preforms in the transport device and wherein the target temperature is dependent on the determined temperature, wherein optionally the sensor is arranged such that it determines the temperature of the preforms in a region of the transfer point.
(similar to claim 4 and claim 5 above, see in CURETTI of temperature sensor 31, [0045], as it measures just before the preform is placed into the cavity of the blow mold)
Re: 13 (upon 11), wherein the control unit controls the temperature-control device such that the preforms have the target temperature at a transfer time.
(similar to claim 6 above, see the teaching in CURETTI of adjustment, for optimization, see [0019-0021])
Claim(s) 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CURETTI in view of COXHEAD and LINKE as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of HAYAKAWA (US 12421093 B2).
Re: 14 (upon 13), wherein the control unit controls the temperature-control device depending on a planned end of operation of the production machine such that the preforms have the target temperature at the planned end of operation.
(similar to claim 7 above, see teaching of CURETTI in view of HAYAKAWA)
CURETTI does not specifically teach of the planned end of the operation of the production machine, though CURETTI does teach of operation control including adjustment for the processing operations based upon temperature sensor readings.
In HAYAKAWA regarding operations that include process operations of molded caps, there is teaching of the production wherein the controller includes movement stopping based upon the number of caps accumulated based upon a sensor reading. This controlled stopping based upon the numbers detected would also include the concept of the planned end of operation as based upon the numbers of units produced/processed.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modify the controlling means of the modified CURETTI with the steps that includes stopping the operation as taught by HAYAKAWA as per reaching the number of products produced in the operation.
Re: 15 (upon 13), wherein the control unit determines the end of operation based on a number of preforms in the storage device and/or based on a number of containers to be produced.
(see teaching in claim 7 above concerning the number of preforms taught in the HAYAKAWA reference)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892 form, of particular note:
GELTINGER (US 2022/0063172 A1) teaches of preform handling along a transport path, see Figs. 1-2, and see [0082-0097].
TANNER (US 2019/0070768 A1) teaches of a preform handling, see abstract, and see use of sensor S1, [0043], and of the clamping conveyor, and further see [0055-0098].
MENARY (US 2011/0062611 A1) teaches of a transport means that includes diverting means, that allows to select a heated preform 22 and move to an off-line situation or location, diverting means include rods, grippers, switch mechanisms, or rails, see [0062, 0063], it can be done automatically, manual, or combination, and the selection may be based on any selection decision, see [0064]. Wherein MENARY further teaches of a temperature sensor, see [0068-0071].
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL S LUK whose telephone number is (571)272-1134. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 to 5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao S Zhao can be reached at 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMMANUEL S LUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744
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